Was your first love one of these? Have you ever found yourself crushing on one when you yourself were just a girl?
Hobbledehoy
Pronunciation: hob–uh l-dee-hoi
n. “clumsy, ungainly, or awkward youth”
1530s, of uncertain origin. First element is probably hob in its sense of “clown, prankster” (hobgoblin), the second element perhaps is Middle French de haye “worthless, untamed, wild,” literally “of the hedge.”
Image by State Library of New South Wales Collection via Wikimedia Commons.
There’s something inherently loveable about a hobbledehoy, isn’t there?
After all, wasn’t Gilbert Blythe a bit of a hobbledehoy when he first met Anne with an E?
Probably all the great tall, dark, and handsome figures in our daydreams were clumsy, perpetually awkward youths … once upon a time.
Absolutely, I was a victim of hobbledehoy as a pre-teen and teen! Once you get enough estrogen flowing in your veins, all sorts of “obsessions” emerge with awkward actions and persistent watching and wondering.
I’ve mostly read about hobbledehoys as being girls, related to tomboys but much more clutzy and wild! If my joints would allow it, I’d be one still…
I’m pretty sure I was the definition of hobbledehoy for a few years in my youth! Then again, I think every preteen could be. It must be due to our hormones and rapidly, unsymmetrical growing bodies!